They said their support would hinge on the amendments, including provisions barring the prime minister from simultaneously holding the finance portfolio.
They also want the amendments to state that the appointment of the prime minister be referred to the Conference of Rulers.
PN Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden, who is also the Alor Setar MP, said the two key proposals should be incorporated into improvements to the bill, which previously failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
“Government MPs are responsible for passing government motions, while the opposition’s role is to provide checks and balances and offer constructive criticism.
“On the prime minister’s term limit bill, it’s not that we don’t support it,” he told FMT.
Padang Serai MP Azman Nasrudin of Bersatu said the opposition supported reforms to limit the prime minister’s tenure.
“The opposition is not rejecting the bill. However, it must be amended so that the prime minister does not concurrently hold the post of finance minister,” he said.
Wanita Perikatan Nasional chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who is also the Masjid Tanah MP, said the government should have been more strategic in organising support for the bill.
“The government has more than two-thirds majority and should have planned this properly.
“We were prepared to remain neutral when the government did not accept our views during the debate, as we expected it to have sufficient numbers to pass the bill,” she said.
Earlier today, government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet had decided to retable the bill at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting in June.
He also called out opposition MPs for misunderstanding the bill’s intent, saying some of them had told a minister the MPs were voting on “allowing Anwar to serve for 10 years”.
On Monday, 146 MPs voted in favour of the bill, 44 abstained, and 32 were absent. The bill needed at least 148 votes to meet the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.
Of the 32 MPs absent, eight were government backbenchers.